The lobby group argues that tariffs on imports are akin to a tax on exports because they raise the cost of imported inputs. Eliminating them will make exports cheaper to produce and therefore more competitive. Read More »

After years of stalling, there’s a renewed push for Canada and South Korea to ink a free-trade pact, as South Korea eyes an even bigger prize: membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Canada is part of the TPP, a U.S. led group that’s trying to forge a pan-Pacific free-trade area, and countries seeking entry into the group have to secure approval from all 12 current members.

South Korea’s interest in joining the TPP has stepped up since its exporting rival Japan joined the group last year, and a person familiar with the matter said finally concluding a trade deal with Canada may help Seoul gain Ottawa’s backing. The TPP members account for about one-third of world trade. Read More »

Ratification of Canada’s long-sought-after free-trade deal with the European Union will come just in time for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper – the same year he’s expected to call a federal election.

The agreement in principle, which finally came to fruition Friday after more than four years of talks, won’t come into force until 2015. That’s when Mr. Harper will have to convince Canadian voters his Conservative Party deserves another majority mandate.

Landing the deal was a major win for Mr. Harper, who has made expanding trade a cornerstone of his agenda to create jobs and boost the Canadian economy. He has aggressively pushed to diversify trade away from the U.S., Canada’s biggest trading partner, especially after President Barack Obama rejected the original version of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

The deal is also a bright spot for Mr. Harper in a year when his party’s reputation as good economic manger was tarnished by a spending scandal involving high-profile Conservative senators. The Conservatives have also trailed the opposition in some recent public opinion polls. Read More »

With Canada and the European Union set to clinch a free-trade deal, known as CETA, the former Canadian provincial leader who was a key proponent of the deal predicted its impact would be ”more profound” than the North American Free Trade Agreement, and also help Brussels in its recently launched trade talks with the U.S.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is en route to Brussels to meet with Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, to conclude a deal that’s been over four years in the making. The leaders are expected to make the official announcement in Brussels Friday.

It would be Canada’s biggest trade deal since it signed NAFTA with the U.S. and Mexico in the early 1990s.

Jean Charest, the former premier of Canada’s French-speaking province of Quebec, said he floated the Canada-EU trade pact idea in 2007 to then-EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. He said Mr. Mandelson recognized that Canada is a very decentralized federation and that a substantive deal would require its provinces to sign on. Read More »

A tweet from Canada’s prime minister Wednesday signaled that the country is — finally — on the verge of inking a long-sought free trade agreement with the European Union.

What suggests the deal — more than four years in the making — is finally in the offing? The two sides have agreed to each others’ demands in the politically sensitive agriculture sector, with Ottawa agreeing to increase quotas for European cheese in return for exporting more beef and pork to the trading bloc, according to sources.

Yves Leduc, director of international trade for the Dairy Farmers of Canada, a key lobby group, told Canada Real Time “there’s been an agreement in principle” reached by Ottawa and Brussels. Read More »

Prime Minister Stephen Harper may say a trade deal between Canada and Europe is imminent next week in the Speech from the Throne, the document that lays out his Conservative government’s agenda for the new session of Parliament, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Canada and the European Union have almost clinched a free-trade agreement, with the conclusion largely hinging on Ottawa agreeing to increase import quotas for cheese as quid pro quo to export more beef and pork to Europe, people familiar with the matter said.

Negotiations for the pact, which would be the biggest since Canada, the U.S. and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992, were launched in May 2009. Read More »

While still working on the big trade prize–a deal with the European Union–Canada unveiled a more modest achievement Monday: an expansion of an existing pact with Chile.

Trade Minister Ed Fast said Canada’s free trade agreement with the South American nation–in force since 1997–has been widened to include a new financial services chapter, which will give Canadian financial institutions preferential access to the Chilean market.

Ottawa is pushing trade with other countries as a key part of its plan to promote jobs and growth–and reduce its dependence on the U.S., Canada’s biggest trading partner, which takes up some three-quarters of Canadian exports. Read More »

Canada and the European Union have made progress on Ottawa’s demands for greater access for beef and pork exports to the EU, marking a step forward in one of the thorniest issues holding back a free-trade agreement that’s been years in the making, according to people familiar with the plan.

They said negotiations are now being led by officials from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office and their EU counterparts in the office of Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, suggesting that talks are in the final stretch and a deal may be close.

“They have definitely made some progress” on beef and pork access but “they still have got some ways to go,” according to one person familiar with the matter. Chief negotiators from the two sides are “talking regularly” but negotiations are really being done at the political level, this person said. Read More »

Trade negotiators for Canada and the European Union have drawn up a proposal they hope will bridge the differences that are blocking a free trade deal after more than four years of talks, according to people familiar with the matter.

It’s the first time they have jointly come up with a “break-out package,” on the small number of outstanding issues–including agriculture, government procurement, pharmaceutical patents, and financial services–according to one of these people.

Though specific details of the proposal were hard to come by, another person broadly familiar with the plan said it includes some changes to agricultural-product quotas. Canada is seeking greater market access for beef and pork in Europe, while the EU aims to ship more cheese to Canada. Read More »

About Canada Real Time

Canada Real Time provides insight and analysis into what’s making news in Canada, a country punching above its weight on the world stage thanks to its vast resources and strong banking sector. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, we take a look at developments in fields ranging from business to politics to culture. You can contact the editors at canadaeditors@dowjones.com